BlueGrace San Diego Central, led by franchise owners Erik Bouvin and Eric Raterkus has been named Franchise of the Month for January 2015. San Diego Central joined the BlueGrace Franchise Network in 2011. The franchise recently hired a new Account Executive and will soon be hiring a position for freight desk services. San Diego Central continues to see growth and looks forward to expand their office in 2015.

“We are very stoked to kick off the New Year being Franchise of the Month, and really excited to keep the momentum rolling.” – Erik Bouvin and Eric Raterkus, BlueGrace San Diego Central

LM Group News Editor Jeff Berman recently conducted a wide-ranging interview with Bobby Harris, President and CEO of non asset-based 3PL BlueGrace Logistics about various aspects of the freight transportation market. A transcript of the conversation is below.

Bobby Harris, President and CEO of BlueGrace Logistics

Logistics Management (LM): The driver shortage continues to be a big story. Many industry stakeholders have stated this is the worst it has been in years, or, perhaps, ever. How bad do you think it is?Bobby Harris: Even though there have been driver shortages in the past, there have been ebbs and flows. But the problem with this one is that we have not seen a solution or a remedy or something that will work itself out in the short term. We believe that there is going to have to be something significant that takes place to address that issue; otherwise, it is going to get progressively worse. It is not just a little problem. It is a big problem, and it cannot be overemphasized at this point, as it is extremely viable to supply chains.

LM: What are some possible options or solutions to improve the situation? Many carriers are taking steps to increase driver pay in a big way, especially on the truckload side. Is that alone enough to fill seats?Harris: While it is nice to see increased driver pay and incentive-based initiatives, the problem is those things take drivers from other companies and they move from one carrier to another. That does not increase the driver pool. If you walk into a high school today and ask the senior class is anyone wants to drive a truck after graduation, you likely will not find one hand raised. With an average age of 56, the driver pool is decreasing, and there are telltale signs that with the younger generation entering the workforce, there is no, or limited, interest in a blue-collar job, much less driving. At that point, we turn to the prospect of immigration, which is very hotly contested politically, but….that is going to have to be a really big part of immigration reform, wherever it is going, that needs to be considered, because without that aspect I don’t know where [carriers] are going to get drivers.

LM: What about other possible solutions?Harris: Technology will help to increase efficiency by necessity and will result in less waste. And there has to be a big market correction in driver wages. Getting drivers to come in is one thing, but it has to be something very seismic for people to say “now I may do that. I am going to quit my other blue collar job and get a CDL.” Then you could then see kids coming out of high school in a couple of years making good money driving and that could influence younger people looking for a job. Something needs to be done to make the profession more attractive or “glamorous” because it is a huge problem right now.

LM: Have you ever seen the driver shortage situation as bad as it currently is at the moment?Harris: Yes, this is definitely the worst I have seen. I started my career as a dockworker when I was 18 and can remember that if you had a CDL and wanted a job with a good carrier, you had to know somebody. If you got an interview, you were excited, as getting that job was a big deal. And when you got that job, it came with a lot of conditions like no facial hair, wearing a uniform, and now the standards have been considerably lowered to let people in.

It’s 2015. It’s a new year. Rate increases have just been applied and sent down the pipe, while fuel prices are decreasing. Have you gone to your shipping coordinator, office manager, transportation manager, logistics coordinator or whatever position you call the person that handles your less than truckload and said “When was the last time we analyzed our freight spend?” Working with sales, our reps hear a lot of “We have great rates,” “We are going to stick with our current process.” “We have czar lite this, FAK that, % discount x off year Y.” This is all just a lot of fluff for someone to not take the time to sit down and analyze what they are doing now and what they can do better. We all get in the whirlwind of the day in our processes and sometimes taking the time to reflect on what we can do better can just slip by. In this day and age when cost savings in transportation can be directly reinvested into other business needs, like hiring and infrastructure, business owners must take the time to do a true cost analysis, which will have one of two outcomes:

A.) Your transportation team is doing great and cost savings cannot be achieved at this time

or

B.) There is room for improvement by blanket pricing or customer specific pricing for high volume shippers.

“You may end up eating in silence because the food is so good! The steak is like butter and is served on a plate that is 500 degrees; ensuring your steak never gets cold. The Sides are big enough to split which is a good thing because they are so delicious you want to sample a few.” – J. Louis

RIVERVIEW — BlueGrace Logistics has promoted Justin Belcher to chief information officer, putting him in charge of all information technology aspects at the Riverview-based freight and logistics company.

Belcher joined BlueGrace in 2009, leading many of the company’s IT initiatives through its 56 locations. In his new role, Belcher will continue that work, according to a release, but will now focus on details of the company’s vision for technology, business development and supporting systems.

January2015

November2014

BlueGrace Indy North, Brian Stutzman

“The opportunity to partner with a business such as BlueGrace Logistics has been nothing but wonderful. I am excited for what the future will hold and having the ability to learn from the best in the business. During my first year I hope to begin building a positive environment for my office location. One that is fun, hardworking, and passionate about helping businesses with their logistic needs. I look forward to continually meeting everyone within the BlueGrace Logistics network and hope everyone has a great 2015!” – Brian Stutzman

BlueGrace would like to recognize the Q4 2014 Franchisees of the Month. Below are the 3 top performing franchisees of the quarter.

BlueGrace Williamsburg Tim & Becky Salavejus

“We are so happy about where our success has led us this year. We could not be more excited about closing out the year and being honored with the Franchise of the Month award” – Tim and Becky Salavejus

BlueGrace Fair Oaks Sharon McWilliams

“Sometimes it’s hard to know if you’re taking the right steps toward success. I second guess myself all of the time, but it gives me some peace of mind that the corporate office feels positively about the decisions I’ve made. I just hope my franchise’s performance in the next few months can live up to the honor.” – Sharon McWilliams

“The carrier and pricing teams are now participating in the development of resourceful material for our prospects and customers. I’m very excited to be a part of our team’s collective voice.” – Ragan Green

WHITNEY MCKAY Producer, Culture & Community Tampa, FL

“Right now, I’m really passionate about the company engagement initiatives like Leader Floor Time and the Employee Desk Swap. We have had such a tremendous amount of positive feedback.” – Whitney McKay

AARON MCCLAIN Account Executive Tampa, FL

“I like our growth and what’s going on with it. There are people being hired every day. Our sales team is seeing more and more resources from management and it’s exciting.” – Aaron McClain

REVAMPING THE SOCIAL MEDIA ENGAGEMENT IN 2015 – The PowerTweeter Game Just Got Real.

43% of businesses permit all of their employees to access social media sites at work, according to a recent survey conducted by Proskauer. It’s pretty crazy to think that the majority of businesses still believe that employees should be banned from interacting with the world while on the clock-something that all of us here at BlueGrace have so much freedom with and often take for granted.

Since BlueGrace has an open social media policy, it should be used by every employee, every day. We’re passionate about being social and want all of our employees to feel the same way. It’s important for them to see just how much impact 140 characters can make in a day.

We want to hear what you have to say, we want you to be involved and to be social!

So here’s a challenge for you! We challenge you to use our #hashtags and interact with us. Every day. Make it fun, make it interesting, make it YOU.

So, BlueGrace… Do YOU accept this challenge?

HASH IT OUT! #HashtagChallenge

“Since marketing started the Hashtag cloud, we’ve seen an increase in engagement and it aids in the adoption of social media in the workplace. If you don’t know where to start creating content, start with the HashTag Challenge. It will absolutely revitalize your social efforts” -Natalie Rockefeller, Director of Marketing